OCD V4
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on august 06, 2012 2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Price paid: $ 135

Purchased from: Chicago Music Exchange

Ease of Use: There are the typical thre knobs, Drice, Volume, and Tone. There is also a HP/LP switch which changes the character of the Overdrive. Pretty simple to use. // 10

Sound: Let me start off by saying that there is literally no bad sound from this pedal. I use it at gigs with a Squier Vintage Modified Strat with the Clapton Midboost and a Fender Blacktop Jazzmaster, going through a Fender style Tube amp. It's the best Overdrive pedal I've ever heard and used. My favorite setting is having the Drive at 2:00, Tone at 3:00, and the volume varies depending on the amp volume. I use it on the HP mode. It has a very British sounding crunch which combines nicely with the Fender clean tone I use. It really has a nice fat, smooth, creamy tone that is really unbeatable. People say that it's similar to a TS808... But it's not even close. The LP mode is a less midrangey, more scooped Overdrive which is nice for a boost or low-gain blues tones. The Midboost in my Strat just supercharges this pedal when I roll it up. It adds a lot of harmonics and Drive to it. The range of the Drive on this pedal goes from clean boost to full on fuzz. // 10

Overall Impression: I play mostly Alt Rock (Switchfoot, U2) and this is a perfect fit for it. If this were stolen, I would definitely buy another. I know that from now on, I won't need another Overdrive pedal ever again. It's the ultimate Overdrive pedal. GET ONE! // 10

OCD V4
Reviewed by:
chordios, on may 08, 2009 1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Price paid: £ 120

Purchased from: Hot Rox UK

Ease of Use: I am reviewing version 4 of the Fulltone OCD. Firstly, it is incredibly easy to get a good sound out of this pedal - I have yet to find a setting that I didn't really like with the tone knob below 3 o'clock. All of the knobs and what they do are really self-explanatory and simple - Volume, Tone and Drive. // 10

Sound: I use I Strat into a Hot Rod Deluxe for my sounds - this is my first proper overdrive/distortion stomp box (as opposed to my previous multi-effects) and after trying out several other I find this one to be far and away superior. For example, it is incredibly versatile; crank the volume up and put the Drive down to 0 and you get an amazingly powerful clean boost. Work up the Drive knob a bit and you get a lovely semi-break up sound. If you really crank the Drive knob you get lots of gain - more than I'll ever need for non-solo work. My favourite part of the sound is that for almost all of the gain that can be put on the sound remains clear and punchy. Not the slightest bit of mud. However, towards maximum gain the sound can get a only a little grating and unclear - really it's my only complaint and nothing that would stop me cranking it to those levels of gain. One thing I definitely noticed was that even on maximum gain there was barely ANY noise - and I play on single coils! The sounds themselves are full, punchy and respond WONDERFULLY to your picking and guitar volume. Seriously, I played a song that went through 3 levels of Overdrive without changing my rig settings - all I had to do was play lighter or harder according to the section! On the LP setting the OCD is very transparent - on this setting it works best as a clean boost or for medium and clear Overdrive. On the HP setting apparently it sounds more 'Marshall-like' according to the instructions - I'd say this is fairly accurate but it wasn't as good of a clone of the Marshall sound of other pedals that I've heard. Regardless, this setting has more gain and bottom-end and sounds great! Although, I prefer the LP setting as it sounds more smooth and pleasant to my ears. One of my favourite things about the box is that you can hit a chord (like it says on the website) - hold it - and hear all these fantastic harmonics over the top. It sounds amazing. // 10

Reliability & Durability: The box seems fairly sturdy although it's so small I get the impression I'll crush it at some point. Also, the battery life is fairly long; only lasts 20 hours so I really wouldn't gig without an adaptor. On all other points I give it a big thumps up! I can see this pedal last me a long time. // 8

Overall Impression: I can see this pedal being a permanent addition to my rig well into the future. It is incredibly versatile and suit's most of my styles extremely well; although I can't see it being heavily used for a lot of my alternative work but maybe as a clean boost. It is voiced amazingly well for classic/vintage sounds and most of the spectrum of rock and blues. I can see this being switched on for almost all my sounds and I can't recommend this pedal enough! I would certainly buy again if stolen - but I wouldn't be too pleased as the unit is EXPENSIVE! At least in the UK it is. There is nothing else I would want on this pedal... Well... It would be awesome if it was joined at the hip to a Beano Boost and a Sun Face I'll give the overall a 9 due to it's price and a few worries I have in reliability. // 9

OCD V4
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on july 18, 2012 0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Price paid: € 166

Purchased from: www.thomann.de

Ease of Use: I own a V4 OCD. Extremely easy pedal to use. Actually it's pretty hard to get a sound out of it that you will not like. One page manual, but you will not need anything more. I haven't done any mod on it and I don't think that I will need one, I get all the classic Rock sounds that I can imagine and no noise at all. // 10

Sound: I am using a Gibson SG with it. It doesn't produce any noise. I don't think that I purchased it because of any specific favourite artist, but to me its sound is awesome classic rock. If you feed it with 18V instead of 9V, it is supposed to have different effect on the sound, but I haven't yet tried it with 18V supply. There is a Lohw-High Peak knob and I use it at HP if I want to get a classic Rock sound and at Low if I want to get something more bluesy. // 10

Reliability & Durability: I am taking extreme care of my pedals, so I don't know its limits. It looks pretty steady though. In the manual it says that even if you plug it to a positive tip adaptor it will not by burned. Also you can feed it with voltages between 9 and 18. These are details that show how carefully designed this pedal is. // 9

Overall Impression: I simply love this small guy. I play Rock and Blues but I use it mostly for Rock. I would definitely buy it if it got lost/stolen. It's not that I need it that much in order to get a specific sound for (i.e.) my band. It's that I just feel a connection with it. The only con for OCD is its price, it could be a little lower. // 10

i brought it as second hand. i use, hardwire tl-2 & GE7, part of boast it, OCD blew it off! For straight metalcore without switching it off, Gain Knob at TL-2, i turn it "0". OCD get the character of distort! awesome OCD! sweeping, tapping etc, sound so damn clear!

Got one yesterday! Fantastic pedal. I used to own a TS 808 and don't like it because it boosts only the mids. The OCD is perfect in everything, it's smooth, creamy, tone rich, you can get much more gain then the TS 808, it's true bypass and it's HANDBUILT in U.S.A.

I bought one of these and a Way Huge Green Rhino the same day, couldn't decide while I was in the store. Got them home and after many hours of A/B comparison I decided to keep the Rhino. I just found it to be an overall more natural sounding pedal, much better tone than the OCD.

I had an OCD for around a year and never could get on with it. Its a well made pedal no doubt but at gig volumes i could never get sound i wanted from it.
I use a Bad Cat Hot Cat 30R with a Strat/Jazzmaster or Gibson Les pauls but the pedal always lacked mids for me. I play indie rock (No metal shit) and this pedal has that very scooped sound where it was either too shrill and thin or just got totally lost in mix. I used to bang it on for abit Muse every now and then but in my opinion you can get alot better for your money than this.
Then again if you just play at home or bedroom level you can get some nice sounds from this, but that true with almost any guitar/pedal/amp its not until your in a live band situation than you can judge any piece of equipment in my opinion.